Pub

The Malt Shovel pub in Barkby can also be seen on the right of the photo on the Barkby and Barkby Thorpe main page. The other pub in the village is The Brookside.

Mrs Baines: In the winter time he (Dad) used to go to the pub, you know, is it the Malt Shovel, and there were a great big copper there, ever such a big ‘un in the kitchen, and they used to brew the ale there. And he used to have to go on a ladder to put the water in, and the barley and oats – hark at me, barley and hops – and they used to make the beer on that then, and they had used to sell it. But my dad was pretty well known there, if you know what I mean, he done all the dirty jobs there. See the toilets, they had, me dad used to have to empty a whassname at the end, he used to empty that at night and do all that sort of dirty work. He used to help them in the cellar as well, and they used to have the liquors then in little barrels, and when the barrels were empty, well nearly empty, me dad used to rinse them out and put the, in bottles, and he used to bring them to my aunt’s at Humberstone, walk right from Barkby to Humberstone and perhaps bring half a dozen bottles at a time. But it were good, it were better than what you’d get today, you know.

Mr Bentley: Did you ever go into the Malt Shovel?

Mrs Baines: Yeah, used to go in.

Mr Bentley: What time did it open and what time did it close?

Mrs Baines: Why, I think it were open pretty well all day, I don’t know. They closed at ten o’clock, I know they closed at ten.

©EMOHA with permission of Barkby Local History Group